The Write 1/ Submit 1 Novel Challenge

Posted by Jennifer B. at The Writing Cocoon.   
 
There's been so much going on today, I almost forgot about another challenge that I'm joining on November 1: The Write 1/Sub 1 Novel Challenge over at the AW Water Cooler forum.

The challenge coincides with the start of NaNoWriMo (to give those participating an opportunity to include their NaNo novel in the challenge), but writers at any stage in the novel writing process are welcome to join. Just reply to the thread with your timeline and goal and you will be part of the crew. That's it, it's that easy. Your timeline can be whatever you need: six months or sixteen months or more. Same with the goal: choose to write one new novel, finish an old novel or complete multiple novels.

The basic idea grew out of the support writers found in the Write 1/Submit 1 Challenge (forum and blog), where writers are challenged to write one short story and submit one short story, every week for a year. There have been some very inspiring results, and I've been toying with joining the challenge for some time. So, check out the Write1/Sub1 forum for an idea of the kind of support and check-ins you can expect with the Novel Challenge.

For my personal 12 month Novel Challenge, I've set the following goals:

1. November: Write 70k word first draft of new novel for NaNoWriMo (WIP2)
2. December: Finish rewrite(2nd draft) of WIP1
3. January/February: Work on 3rd draft of WIP1
4. March: Send out WIP1 to readers
5. May/June: Complete final draft of WIP1
6. July: Submit WIP1; Begin revision of WIP2
7. October: Have WIP2 submission-ready. 
8. November: NaNoWriMo 2012!

These goals are fluid, as I don't really know how long I will need to take a novel through each draft (or how many drafts the novel may require). I'm expecting WIP1 to be rewrite intensive (it has been so far), because it was my first novel, and I wrote it for last year's NaNoWriMO with no preparation.

The bottom line: 2 novels to submission-ready status in 12 months. I think this is ambitious, but doable.

I'm going to post updates here, as well as in the forum. Anyone else joining in at the AW Novel Challenge?